Science Books for Kids of All Ages
To help you choose the perfect educational books for your child, we've created this handpicked list of the best science books for kids. The titles featured here spark curiosity, encourage learning, and are lots of fun, too.
About Time: A First Look at Time and Clocks
Author: Bruce Koscielniak; Price: US $8.55
Long ago people used the sun, the moon, and the water to tell time. Soon after we began using our knowledge about the natural world to build clocks and to create calendars made up of months and years. Centuries later, we have clocks and calendars all around us. This book tells the amazing story of how it all happened!
Animalium: Welcome to the Museum
Author: Katie Scott; Price: US $8.99
This book opens the doors of the natural history museum for your child all year round! It features 200 full-color specimens (样本) accompanied by lively, informative text and more. Discover the animal kingdom in glorious detail with unique illustrations that combine science and art.
Bang!: How We Came to Be
Author: Michael Rubino; Price: US $16.00
"Bang! And that was it, the beginning of everything." So begins this beautifully illustrated story of evolution. This book conveys not only the facts but also the excitement of the scientific explanation of our world, from the origin of the universe to the present reality of our planet.
Bedtime Math: The Truth Comes Out
Author: Laura Overdeck; Price: US $10.99
This book makes learning about math as fun as dessert after dinner! It combines math and cool facts for one fun and wild adventure. Now kids can discover the science behind all their favorite things: marshmallows, soda, ice cream, and more. With over 100 math problems on a variety of topics, kids will find math isn't just fun — it can be found everywhere!
3M and Discovery Education announced Sean Jiang from Gilman School as one of the top ten finalists from across the nation for the 2023 3M Young Scientist Challenge. It's a competition that encourages students to identify an everyday problem and submit a video showing the science behind the solution he or she came up with.
14-year-old Jiang decided to help those who can't see. Blind people had a hard time navigating（导航） objects that are medium to far range. So Jiang wanted to design something to give them a heads-up on obstacles（障碍） that may be incoming.
Jiang's inspiration came from the powers of the hearing system. "I learned in school that bats and whales are able to use echolocation （回声定位） to help them navigate and just use their sense of hearing and I also saw on YouTube some very skilled blind people that use echolocation to help them walk, "said Jiang.
Jiang started with a virtual reality setting and then made it a reality. His creation uses a depth camera that can detect how close objects are, thus giving enough time to dodge the obstacles. When a blind is walking with the device, the sensor of the depth camera gathers the information regarding the obstacles' position and distance. Then the AI system in it will turn the distance data into musical sound guidance. This could significantly increase the walking speed of a blind person as well as decrease the number of obstacles they hit.
Some other similar programs were alright at finding objects that were in close range, but Jiang still wanted the blind to experience the world even fuller so they were able to see stuff that was much further away than their circle of reach.
In October, the top ten finalists will compete in person in Minneapolis for the title of "America's Top Young Scientist" and a $25, 000 prize.
When delivering medications to patients, one of the most effective methods is direct injection （注射） into the bloodstream using a needle. But this can be an uncomfortable experience, especially for kids or adults with a fear of needles. While patients do have the option to take oral pills instead, drugs containing large molecules（分子） are not absorbed effectively this way.
Now, inspired by octopus suckers（章鱼吸盘）, researchers from China and Switzerland have designed a needle-free alternative: a tiny, drug-filled, cup-like patch （贴片） that sticks to the inside of the cheeks. The device is easily accessible, and it can be removed at any time and the drug gets absorbed through the lining of the inner cheek, the team reports in a paper in Science Translational Medicine.
To test the design, the team 3D printed the suckers. They loaded each with the drug and stuck them inside the cheeks of three beagles, a kind of dog which has a similar inner cheek lining to humans. For comparison, they also delivered the drug to beagles via a pill. After three hours, the team found that drug blood concentrations in dogs with the patch were more than 150 times higher than in the dogs that took a tablet. They also found patches worked effectively for drugs with large molecules.
40 healthy human volunteers self-applied water-filled patches to see how well they would stay on while talking and moving their mouths. After 30 minutes, only five of the 40 patches had fallen off, which was because of improper placement. Most volunteers said they would prefer a patch over injections for daily applications.
Still, the team only tested the patch for a short time so they would need to find out what would happen if it was used repeatedly. They'd also need to determine which drugs would work with the technology: the target is large molecules, such as those used to treat obesity or osteoporosis, but they can't be too large to fit in the cup.
You see a shopper trip over in a busy street. Someone else can help. That's what you tell yourself. This is the bystander effect（旁观者效应） in action—the dilution（淡化） of responsibility in the presence of others — and it has been demonstrated in many past studies.
But life is complicated and psychologists have seen exceptional situations. Recently two experiments were conducted by Marco van Bommel and his team using an online chat room for people with extreme emotional problems. Eighty-six students were logged into the forum （论坛） and shown five messages from troubled users. They were told to write a reply if they wanted, but it was entirely up to the students themselves.
Basically, participants could see their names on the screen alongside others' names. A counter also told them if the forum was quiet with just one other person logged in, or busy with 30 others online. This arrangement reproduced the classic Bystander Effect—participants were less likely to post replies with more people logged in. However, when the researchers cued （提示） self-awareness by highlighting participants' names in red on the screen, they posted more replies on a busy forum.
A second study was built on these findings, but this time self-awareness was raised by the presence, or not, of a computer web-camera. Over 100 participants took part. Then researchers found that the Bystander Effect was reproduced when web-cameras were absent —on busy forums participants posted fewer replies to needy users. On the contrary, those cued to be self-aware by the web-camera actually wrote more replies.
Nearly any online community can benefit from the research. The ability to turn hesitant bystanders into eager helpers is a recipe for engagement and collective benefit. As in the research, simple design cues could be integrated to help online users remember they are visible to the community.
For the past two months, Mandy Chen, a second-year student at Beijing University of Technology, has been posting photos of herself to Taobao, posing with a reusable cup, climbing stairs and switching off lights. Taobao's Al algorithm （算法） calculates that Chen's use of a reusable cup reduced 15. 7 grams of carbon emissions （排放）, while her choice to take the stairs instead of the lift resulted in a reduction of 19.5 grams.
After seven days of posting her photos, Chen exchanged the points for a dozen of biodegradable rubbish bags from Taobao. Everyone can get an endless supply of free trash bags if they keep going, according to Chen.
Chen uses Carbon88, a platform launched last August by Alibaba Group Holding, to help the more than 800 million users on Taobao adopt a sustainable lifestyle. The platform rewards users for over 70 low-carbon behaviours. It also recommends products that it considers environmentally sustainable, and gives users points for buying them.
"I didn't know that my actions could produce such carbon reduction, " Chen said, "Now I feel good for what I'm doing to make this world a tiny bit better. We as a part of society can call for more systemic changes. "
A. It aims to encourage them to reduce their carbon footprint.
B. And her efforts to save electricity prevented 65.50 grams.
C. It's a valuable addition to current carbon-reduction policies.
D. Carbon88 has helped increase Chen's environmental awareness.
E. Within minutes, she receives a dozen points from the app as a reward.
F. They range from taking public transport to shopping of second-hand items.
G. She is now saving points for something better, like snacks and water bottles.
Harry Burleigh headed into the woods for a camping trip with his fishing equipment. A few days later, his wife Stacy grew 1 when he didn't come home as planned.
Stacy called the 2 to report her husband's missing. Search and rescue teams 3 began their work and went on for days, but there was no 4 of Harry anywhere. Everyone was worried -the temperatures were quite low some nights, and it had even snowed.
On May 15, the rescuers finally caught a break when they 5 a shelter and his fishing equipment. They 6 support from over 16 rescue organizations, and they explored every possible 7 but with no luck. Therefore, the rescuers 8 him a lighter and a note telling him to make a 9 and they would be back. Two days later, a team found another 10 , but this time, Harry was nearby and heard his name called! It turned out he was 11 along the path with minor pain.
12 , the crew radioed for a helicopter to take him to the hospital for a complete evaluation after spending 17 long days out.
"This was the 13 we all have been looking for in this case, " a rescuer said. "It is our 14 search and rescue teams and the partnerships we have with other teams that helped 15 Mr. Burleigh and his family. "
Xi'an, capital city of Shaanxi, served as the capital of 13 dynasties in Chinese history, which in total （last）about 1, 100 years. Consequently, the ancient history of Shaanxi is to some degree the ancient history of China. Shaanxi History Museum considers a duty to be a showcase of Chinese ancient civilization.
People call Shaanxi History Museum "Bright Pearl in Ancient Capital and Precious Treasure of China", for it is an art palace （full） showing Shaanxi history and culture as well as Chinese ancient civilization. Its architectural buildings and exhibits have made it famous as a first-class museum in China it was opened to the public in 1991. It covers total area of 65, 000 square meters.
The basic halls in the museum are divided into three exhibition halls
2, 000 cultural remains to display the history of ancient times in chronological （编年的） order. The first exhibition hall （locate）on the ground floor while the other two are on the second floor.
While （design）the buildings in Shaanxi History Museum, the great designer used （tradition） palace construction of Tang Dynasty for reference. Adopting symmetry axis （轴对称） layout with main and supporting buildings in order, the complex （architecture）show the unique presence of Tang Dynasty.
注意：1. 写作词数应为80左右；2. 短文的题目和首句已为你写好。
Students' Time Spent on Physical Exercise Weekly
Nowadays, many students are aware of the significance of physical exercise, although the time they spend on it varies.
Saving the Daisies
Taylor aged 14 opened her sleepy eyes and looked out the window below. "NO!" she cried, now fully awake. Buttermilk the cow was in Mama's daisy（雏菊） garden.
"I must have forgotten to close the gate last night, " Taylor thought as she pulled a sweatshirt over her head. Mama was planning to sell the daisies at the fair next week. But Buttermilk was eating the flowers. Taylor hurried outside and grabbed a rope.
"Why can't you stay in the field?" she called to Buttermilk as she headed across the yard to the daisy garden. Buttermilk stood biting the tender flowers.
"When I grow up, I'll be an artist and paint pictures all day, " Taylor thought. "I'll not own a cow. Too much trouble. " Taylor was fond of painting since the day she had memory. She would like to help with family but she loved seeing birds and flowers alive under her brush more.
Just as Taylor was about to throw the rope onto Buttermilk's collar, the family dog barked. Buttermilk couldn't stand it and took off, tearing through the daisies. It finally ran through the open gate and into the field outside. "Thank goodness!" Taylor said as she closed the gate and secured the lock. But as she turned to look at the flower garden, most of the daisies were either eaten or left in pieces.
Mama and Dad came out of the house. "What's going on?" Mama asked. She looked sadly at her garden. "I forgot to close the gate, "Taylor said. "I'm so sorry. ""I know you are. "Mama sighed and gave Taylor a hug.
Taylor's heart was heavy as she went back into the house. Mama had prepared much for the fair but now half of her efforts were in vain. Taylor decided to think of a way to make it up to her mother. The problem tasked Taylor's mind. Could she plant other flowers in a week? Not enough time. Could she make use of the daisies in pieces? Not enough magic. Taylor found no way out.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Suddenly, Taylor noticed a daisy painting in the house and an idea jumped in.
……
A week later, when her parents were loading the car, Taylor brought her paintings downstairs.
